In hybrid fiber coax (hereinafter sometimes HFC) and radio frequency (RF) over glass (hereinafter sometimes RFOG) and passive optical network (hereinafter sometimes PON) CATV (hereinafter sometimes cable) plant designs, there is a forward path (from the cable company's transmission point to the subscriber's premises) and a return path (from the subscriber's premises back to the cable company's receiving point). The goals of all of these technologies are to provide a communication infrastructure for video, audio, and data. With the advent of the Internet Protocols (hereinafter sometimes called IP), it is the ultimate goal for cable companies to move to an IP-based communication network with fiber leading the way on maximum data capacity. The leading technologies are PON-based systems. Either GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) and EPON (Ethernet Passive Optical Network) along with their 10 Gigabit newer specifications (10G PON/10G EPON).
Because it is extremely capital cost and labor expensive to replace all of the coaxial cable in the world with fiber, cable companies have been moving in stages. The first stage (S1) was moving from all coax to an HFC network where the fiber reached part way out into the system; usually the node. The second stage (S2) is to reach fiber out to the pedestal or aerial mounted TAP which typically feeds 4 or 8 homes. The last and most expensive stage (S3) would be to take fiber all the way to the home. New subdivision developments today start with this final stage (S3) of fiber directly to the home.
With each step taken by the cable companies, the speed and quality of the network improves because fiber is inherently lower in noise content and a more efficient medium of transferring information. It should be noted that after each step is taken, a time period usually exists for the cable companies to recoup their investment. This disclosure focuses on extending the useful life of stage S2.
In some Stage S2 systems, fiber reaches the pedestal or aerial Tap and allows the cable company to use RFOG to get data from the Tap into the customers home. RFOG still requires DOCSIS standards for data transport.
Due to the increasing demand of higher Internet speed to support digitized video, voice, and data applications, legacy HFC networks face the challenge of catching the competition from regular Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) and Wireless (4G, 5G LTE) service providers to serve every subscriber to reach at least 1 Gbps downlink speed without upgrading the existing equipment to support the latest but more expensive DOCSIS standard.